Folks, it ain't coaching. The coach's job is to create schemes that get his players quality shots like, you know, layups. The Clippers failed to capitalize on 30 potential points beneath the rim. Had they converted even half these attemps, they would've won last night's game going away.

Posted Wednesday, October 29 at 3:20PM

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I agree with Kevin. The game was lost on the point in the paint and rebouding battle.

Admittedly, the game was really tough to watch. For some reason it felt like the Clips were just a step slow, and waiting for calls to be made, looking around to see if a foul was going to be called. In the those breif, but important, moments, the Sonics just jumped at the balls and pushed it across the court, capitalizing on the "miss".

Maybe I'm not on point here, but it sure felt that way to me.

Man ... and I was so excited to start this season. Let's hope that the game starts to pick up. Maybe Cassell can give the team a lift and knock down some jumpers to keep us in games.

Agreed, the coach can't shoot for the players, but it's pretty clear that these are MD's hand-picked players. In my opinion, MD is an awful coach and an even worse evaluator of talent, Kevin.

MD is guy that decided to go with T2 as the staring PF, who can't get a board to save his life. And can't stretch the D, either. He's been up and down his whole career and a huge mistake to put yourself in a situation where you are counting on T2 to do anything the Clips need him to do.

MD wanted Dickau and Knight, both PG's that can't get the ball to the anyone, and can't shoot a lick either. They're basically good for bringing the ball past half court, and that's about it.

MD is also responsible for Q Ross, our starting shooting guard, that can't shoot at all and isn't exactly the lock down defender of 2 years ago.

MD buried Corey last year and Wilcox before him. Wilcox is already flourishing in Seattle (making the same $$ as T2, BTW) and so will Maggette when he leaves too.

MD himself makes little to no in game adjustments and may be the worst down the stretch play caller in history. The next time he calls a good play with the game on the line will be his first.

I disagree with the above. I think MD can spot talent... i just don't think he knows what to do with it when he gets it. If Dickua can do anything, it's shoot. But that aside, the coaching problem here is motivation, passion and inspiration... aside from kaman these guys are playing for a paycheck and just going through the motions. Even at this level... that is a coaches problem

Dickau has not shot well this year, waughtang. If he can shoot, it'd be nice if he started doing so.

MD also insisted on drafting Korolev, was that a good pick dude? Last I checked when you pick 13, you should get someone that can at the minimum make the team 2 years later.

MD last the team last year early on, say around game 15 or so. And one may argue that he lost the team with the series of bonehead decisions in the PHX series in the previous post-season. PHX beat us with 6 damn guys, and one of them was T2, so pathetic.

The spurs would probably win 50 plus games if MD was the coach, secure the 2 or 3 seed each year, but MD would certainly find a way to blow it year after year- and they would have zero rings. The same # of rings he has after coaching very talented teams in Portland and also with the Lakers.

Dunleavy is good tactical coach (in-game, matchups, etc.) but a lousy strategic coach. "We can play with anyone" is not a strategy. There is no framework, just "taking advantage of match-ups." Can anyone say what this team's identity, other than "Elton Brand, decent post game, bad shooting."? Witness the way he handled the Maggette situation last year. And don't even get started on talent evaluation.

I would disagree that MDSr is a good tactical coach. He tries to coach to the opposition. He doesn't ever force the opposition to deal with our matchups. He's a reactive coach who is always outcoaching himself. See his decision to put a cold Dan Ewing on Raja Bell in the 2006 playoffs. Haunts me to this day.

That last comment nails it. All Dunleavy EVER does is react to the other coach's player moves. He is obsessed with matchups and quite frankly, he is obsessed with Ross, who is in reality a marginal defensive player and literally less than worthless on defense.

I known I talk him up constantly on TV, but when you are a Mormon and have ten kids and prattle on about "my favorite players" constantly what else can you do?

The Clippers are not even fun to watch anymore and that is the coach's fault and the end of the story.

Dunleavy criticized some players game after recent loss. When your coach doesn't own upto the final outcome and talk to the press openly criticizing his own players, then you are going to loose 'team' you are supposed to coach.

Mobley has lost the last three games for us. If he is not healthy, he should sit cause right now he is hurting us more than helping!!! I hate to say this but we are probably one of the worst teams in the nba right now!!! Yes under Wolves too, atleast their games are a little more exciting to watch. What sucks is that I'm a season ticket holder!!

Yes, Mobley has hurt himself by coming back too quickly and not getting healthy. He is not playing well enough to be getting minutes in his present state. This is not Mobley's fault in the slightest, he is a baller, and a true pro. The coach and medical staff has to make wise decisions with regard to the health of the player and sometimes it makes sense to hold a guy out so he can heal up enough to get over the hump with the recovery process. They did not do this with Mobley.

Mike I agree with your comments. I need to see an improvement with the team is I'm going to invest my money on season tickets. I will still be a fan of the Clippers but from home. The product that Sterling is selling me right now is not appealing!!!

Im not going to say it's all coaching. Im not going to say it's all players. What I will say is that it's poor. It's bad. It's the Clippers. I really blame the organization for paying too many players who dont deserve it too much. When your team is paper thin, you cant pay decent players superstar cash. That's why Tim Thomas is starting. The PG situation wasnt suprising. We picked of Brevin for that and he's good on D, but when you have a bunch of chumps defensively and rebound-wise and offensively, then you need to get some help. Be it trade or free-agency, you have to get rebounding. Paul Davis is turrrrrriblllllleeeee. Tim Thomas is like the opposite of rebounding. I cant believe that he even manages not to hand the ball to opposing teams when he rebounds. That's a quote of the day. Im a big Tim Thomas guy.......for threes off the bench. When he's your back-up PG behind Elton Brand (who has had some injuries) then there's problem. i just hope they can beat Memphis when I finally see em' live. Who knows when they can't beat the Sonics.

In this situation, we need 30+ points from Corey & 25+ points from Kaman to win against average teams. If they are scoring 50% points every game, they have to take 50% of shots. Even if it means Kaman & Corey have to attempt 25 shots each, that's fine.

The Wilcox/Thomas comparison is and unfair, as I think Ralph pointed out before last night's game. Wilcox is a back to the basket, post-up PF who would get maybe 10-12 mpg if EB were playing. He would be continue to be unhappy and play on only one end of the court during those 10-12 minutes, as he did when he was a Clipper.

I'm no TT fan, but his game complements EB's. You play him at the same time and he gets open looks when the opposition doubles EB and/or Kaman.

Now the real comparison is TT vs. Vlad the Honesty-Challenged Laker Snowboarder. Maybe Vlad would be better but the Clips tried to keep him, losing him only because they wouldn't lie to HIM and tell him he'd start over Maggette. The Lakers promised him the starting line-up so he jumped ship, leaving us to look for Vlad-lite in the form of TT.

When comparing TT vs Vlad, TT is the person I want in my team. Vlad has had a few good games. TT is averaging more points and rebound than Vlad but both players should be coming off the bench.

We need a point guard that can create a play, we are very predictable with our play. We should see if we could pick up Guillermo Diaz, dude was exciting to watch. We need somebody to pump some energy into our play.

The main thing for the off-season, is "don't panic." Re-sign Maggette and Brand, don't rush Shawn back, let's come back next season with a healthy starting line-up of Livingston, Brand, Maggette, Kaman and Ross, with a bench of Mobley, Thornton, Knight, and some assorted big mean, and give it one more run.

DTS should let Cassell have a rip at the coaching thing right away. Sam could even dress for the games and put himself in the game during crunch time. Give the Clips a bucket or two, the typical Sammy clutch shots that rips the heart out of the opponent. This would be a million times better than MD making more failed attempts at coaching, and Sam trying to play a full season as a player.

Jax, you are right on with the overcoaching thing. It's unbelievable to watch game after game, with no attempts to try to take advantage of some of the mismatches the Clips can force. You can't do it when you're constantly on your heels, which is where the Clips seem to have been for a while.

Rumor has it that the Clips hold a two year buy-out on MD's contract. As painful of a check as that would be to write ($11 mil or so) and especially for DTS- this being the first coach he's made that type of commitment to- it has to be done, period.

Can't blame Dunleavy for all things bad. Yes, he miscalculated his crew after the 4th win. He changed player involvement 360 degrees and went back to BRAND style basketball of previous seasons. He's not a visionery or creative coach. That's why he has to stick with what works now & curtail his habitual obsession with 'match-up' basketball.

I just don't like the way that Dunleavy is so stubborn. Yes, the players should be able to hit enough easy shots to beat Seattle. But what about some defense and rebounding from the PF position? It's sitting there--you know that Williams, Davis, and Powell would all be making a bigger contribution than Thomas, would have a lot more than his 101 rebounds in 586 minutes. Ross gets plenty of minutes for defensive purposes, Mobley keeps playing when he can't run or shoot, and it doesn't matter that Thomas is shooting 40% from 2pt and 36% from 3, has 13 offensive rebounds in 17 games, and is averaging 5.9 rbg. And none of that is a surprise! We all would have expected it, because that's who T2 is.

Dunleavy overplayed Thomas last year when Kaman was bad (and left Singleton and Davis to rot) and he's doing it again this year when Brand is out (leaving Williams, Davis, and Powell to sit). Other players are bad and they sit, but with certain guys, they can be horrible and unproductive and MD keeps playing them. Thomas is a big asset and he could help, but he should be playing 20 minutes a game, not over 30, even with Brand out.

First off, Kevin, you must have a lot of time in your hands to get all these stats. Great job.
Anyway, I think the Clippers should trade some of its defensive players for some offense. No good defending when you can't score. Also, I think that the Clippers may have been using too much energy on defense that they get too tired to score (I.E. Kaman is already panting in the 3rd).
MAN OH MAN. If they lose to Sacramento...

I must admit that watching the heat loose tonight against Portland made me feel good. The Clippers atleast have an excuse, we are missing our best scorer and defensive player in E.B. The heat have their full squad.

Elgin, we need to make some agressive moves!! Let's pick up a point guard or shooting guard that might be on another teams bench, it does not have to be a superstar. We need somebody that can bring some energy to our team!!!

That had to be the dumbest post ever....a lot goes into those missed shots..defenders, timing, getting bumped or not, rhythm....numerous things...so until you have played a professional game, give it a rest. its not like we try to miss shots...

There are actually posters who believe that getting everyone back will yield a contending team? Are you crazy?

We HAD all those pieces last year. Brand played the whole year and SLivingston was a bench player. You say Maggette was injured too? He's ALWAYS injured. He dives to the basket and TRIES to get hit!

Not enough for you? The Clippers had this FULL team 2 years ago... and they got lucky to get out of the 1st round... because they tanked at the end of the season and drew an injury riddled Denver team.

This team is not going anywhere. You guys want to be fighting for the 8th seed every year?

It's not rocket science. You either got it or you dont. The Clippers dont have it. Time to shake it up with MAJOR changes.

Anti-Clipper Darryl is probably another poste we all know and love. That's the only poster I know of who needlessly denigrates players and other posters and really has no meangingful understanding of the game of basketball. Which is why he must always resort to name-calling.

superstars win championships... reserve players that are nice guys get you to the lottery. I didnt call them garbage people...but they're not what i call "difference makers". They just log minutes for the sake of logging minutes. They only occassionaly do something great, and more often than not are expected to do things that they're not capable of. That basically describes the entire Clippers Roster, save Kaman and Brand.
Almost every playoff team, every year, have a player that they can pencil in as an all-star to start the season. Who do the Clippers have? Brand? Is he better than KG, Duncan, Nowitzki, Yao, Kobe, Caremelo, TMac, Wade, D Howard, Arenas, Boozer/Williams, Iverson, etc, etc.... NO, he's not better. At best, he was a better player than them for 1 season, 2 years ago...when he was no-doubt top 10 players in the league.

Kaman? He's getting there-- but let's see him do it for the rest of the season.

Who else? Rag tag bunch of misfits and castoffs. This is not name-calling. This is fact.

I love hard collar players. My favorite player EVER is Charles Oakley. But he needed Ewing and Houston to get anything done. Two All-star players.

Brand has Kaman and Maggette? Kaman may approach that...but Maggette? You are a joke if you think he's a top 50 player in this league today. Scoring 20 points in 40 minutes of play and not doing anything else makes you a liability. I'm out!

Hmm - and whose fault is it that the Clippers are composed of these so-called "hard player" "misfits and castoffs?" They are just playing like that because of injuries and also because their coaching staff is not organized and doesn't run an appropriate offense.

Brand is a good first option. Corey is a good third option. Kaman is a good second option. The team will be fine if they go out and get a couple of good shooters.

Detroit Pistons & San Antonio Spurs won championships because of blue collar workmanship not won just by one great superstar.(NBA doesn't like it, we all know that)

Why do you think Boston has collection of 3 superstars? I'll be surprised if they survive beyond All-star break.

Kobe Bryant, the all time ONE-man show superstar already tried it. And everyone knows it too. Superstars are a good marketing tool. But to win the ultimate prize, you have to cover everything and everyone involved.

The Clips could or more rather should have taken Granger instead of Korolev, that would have solved the outside shooting problem.

Last year, the Clips take big AL, and ignore the gaping holes at PG and PF, and are paying the price for that today. Al could become a decent player one day but in my opinion, the price of not filling one of the holes through the draft was far too great NOT to do. Maybe Crittendon would have been a wiser choice given the situation the Clips were in. He can score and this would have been the perfect season to let him get acclaimated to the league.

Big Sofo's still wasting away in Greece as well. Sure there are reports of his weight problem but nothing a steady diet and workout regiment here couldn't cure.

These are three guys that should be on our roster today, not to mention all of their other mis-steps during this same period. Nicely done MD and Elgin.

Release or trade everyone that's not named Brand, Kaman, Cassel, and probably Thorton. Kaman and Brand is the best big men in the league that are on the same team, Cassel brings out the fire that this team needs and Thorton occasionally flashes that brilliance in his future. And about the coaching, sure they make a lot of mistakes, but don't forget that this staff made it to the semi-finals with a washed up shooting guard, a prehistoric point guard, a "defensive" specialist, and a inexprienced center. In addition, I think Dunleavy is the best coach (pretty pathetic but true) the Clippers had ever had. Consider this, through out the Clippers horrible NBA life, changes in the coaching position had never really improved the franchise to be a consistent playoff team. If you have any comments, I would like to see your point of view.

Is this team cursed? On paper, this is a very good team if everyone is healthy.
On another note, why does the Clippers make so many careless mistakes, and shoot bad shots (Mobley is a ball hog!!! Stop shooting if your having a bad game!!!I hate you!!!AHHHHH!!!!!)? They should be better than this since they are the 3rd oldest team in the league.
Man oh man, this team makes you taste a lil bit of victory and gives you hope(05-06 season) only to put you back down again.

04/12/08 00:11:41

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